Majesty (abbreviated HM for His Majesty or Her Majesty, oral address Your Majesty; from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''maiestas'', meaning "greatness") is used as a manner of address by many

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

s, usually

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

s or

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

s. Where used, the style outranks the style of ''(Imperial/Royal) Highness'', but is inferior to the style of ''

Imperial Majesty Imperial Majesty (''His/Her Imperial Majesty'', abbreviated as ''HIM'') is a style used by Emperors and Empresses. It distinguishes the status of an emperor/empress from that of a King/Queen, who are simply styled Majesty. Holders of this style h ...

''. It has cognates in many other languages, especially of Europe.

Origin

Originally, during the

Roman republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

, the word ''maiestas'' was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else. This was crucially defined by the existence of a specific case, called '' laesa maiestas'' (in later French and English law, ''

lèse-majesté Lèse-majesté () or lese-majesty () is an offence against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or the state itself. The English name for this crime is a borrowing from the French, w ...

''), consisting of the violation of this supreme status. Various acts such as celebrating a party on a day of public mourning, contempt of the various rites of the state and disloyalty in word or act were punished as crimes against the majesty of the republic. However, later, under the Empire, it came to mean an offence against the dignity of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Style of a head of state

The term was first assumed by

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

, who believed that—following his election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519—he deserved a style greater than '' Highness'', which preceding emperors and kings had used. Soon,

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

and

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

followed his example. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Majesty was used to describe a monarch of the very highest rank— it was generally applied to

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

. Variations, such as ''Catholic Majesty'' (Spain) or ''

Britannic Majesty His Britannic Majesty, or Her Britannic Majesty (HBM), is a treaty title for the monarch of the United Kingdom, a royal style used in international law and diplomacy. It is used on the international plane in the same way that ''His Majesty'' or ' ...

'' (United Kingdom) are often used in diplomatic settings where there otherwise may be ambiguity (see a list). A person with the title is usually addressed as ''Your Majesty'', and referred to as ''His/Her Majesty'', abbreviated ''HM''; the plural ''Their Majesties'' is ''TM''. Emperors (and empresses) use '' is/Her/Their/YourImperial Majesty'', ''HIM'' or ''TIM''. Princely and ducal heads usually use ''His Highness'' or some variation thereof (e.g., ''His

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...

''). In British practice, heads of princely states in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

were referred to as Highness. In monarchies that do not follow the European tradition, monarchs may be called ''Majesty'' whether or not they formally bear the title of ''King'' or ''Queen'', as is the case in certain countries and amongst certain peoples in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. In Europe, the monarchs of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium use the style. By contrast, the heads of state of Liechtenstein and Monaco, being principalities, use the inferior style of ''Serene Highness''. Luxembourg, a Grand Duchy, accords its monarch the style of ''Royal Highness,'' as accorded to all other members of the Grand-Ducal Family, due to their descendance from

Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma (later Prince Félix of Luxembourg; 28 September 1893 – 8 April 1970) was the husband of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the father of her six children, including her successor Jean, Grand Duke of ...

. In the Holy See, the Pope – while ruling as ''Sovereign of the Vatican City State'' – uses the spiritual style of ''Holiness.'' Moreover, while Andorra is formally a monarchy, its Co-Princes – the bishop of Urgell (appointed by the Pope) and President of France – use the republican and non-royal style of ''Excellency.'' Andorra is the only non-hereditary, elective and appointive monarchy in Europe. In Saudi Arabia, King Fahd abolished the style of ''Majesty'' in 1975 in favour of ''Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,'' a style adopted by historical Islamic rulers. However, the King by custom continues to be referred to as ''Your Majesty'' in conversation.

Great Britain and the Commonwealth

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, several derivatives of Majesty have been or are used, either to distinguish the British sovereign from continental kings and queens or as further exalted forms of address for the monarch in official documents or the most formal situations. Richard II, according to Robert Lacey in his book Great Tales from English history, was the first English King to demand the title of ''Highness'' or ''Majesty''. He also noted that, '...previous English Kings had been content to be addressed as ''My Lord'' '. '' Most Gracious Majesty'' is used only in the most formal of occasions. Around 1519 King Henry VIII decided Majesty should become the style of the sovereign of England. ''Majesty'', however, was not used exclusively; it arbitrarily alternated with both '' Highness'' and '' Grace'', even in official documents. For example, one legal judgement issued by Henry VIII uses all three indiscriminately; Article 15 begins with, "The Kinges Highness hath ordered," Article 16 with, "The Kinges Majestie" and Article 17 with, "The Kinges Grace." Pre-Union Scotland Sovereigns were only addressed as ''

Your Grace His Grace or Her Grace is an English style used for various high-ranking personages. It was the style used to address English monarchs until Henry VIII and the Scottish monarchs up to the Act of Union of 1707, which united the Kingdom of Scotlan ...

''. During the reign of James VI and I, Majesty became the official style, to the exclusion of others. In full, the Sovereign is still referred to as ''His (Her) Most Gracious Majesty'', actually a merger of both the Scottish Grace and the English Majesty. ''

'' is the style used for the monarch and the crown in

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

, the law of nations, and international relations. For example, in the Mandate for Palestine of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, it was ''His Britannic Majesty'' who was designated as the Mandatory for Palestine. Britannic Majesty is famously used in all British passports, where the following sentence is used: '' Most Excellent Majesty'' is mainly used in

Acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

, where the phrase ''The King's (or Queen's) Most Excellent Majesty'' is used in the enacting clause. The standard is as follows:

Ancient China

In imperial China, the

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

(), referring to the

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heav ...

(), was used.

Japan

In Japan, the

(; ''heika'') was only used when addressing the

Reigning Emperor or , according to protocol, is the honorific title used in Japan to refer to the current Emperor of Japan instead of using their personal name (e.g. Hirohito), as is done in the West. The only context where the personal name is used is when refe ...

().

Burma

In Burma, the full Burmese title for the King of Burma Proper was officially ''Bhone Taw Kyi Hla Thaw Myanmar Min Myat Phya'' ( my, ဘုန်းတော်ကြီးလှသောမြန်မာမင်းမြတ်ဘုရား), shortened to ''Bhone Taw Kyi Phaya'' ( my, ဘုန်းတော်ကြီးဘုရား) or ''Ashin Paya'' ( my, အရှင်ဘုရား).

Brunei

In Brunei, a Malay title for the Sultan of Brunei is officially ''Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda'' (KDYMMPSB) or unofficial simply ''Kebawah Duli''. It literally means "Under the dust of the Most Exalted od The Victorious Sovereign". It reflects the title of ''Zilullah-fil-Alam'' ("Shadow of God on Earth"), referring to the Sultan as having a small bit of God's immense power. The title ''paduka'' means "victorious" from

Old Malay Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that derived from different layers of foreign influen ...

while '' seri'' is an honorific from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. The title ''baginda'' is a third-person noun for royals and prophets.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the Malay style for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong is ''Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda'' or simply ''Seri Paduka Baginda''. The Sultan of Johor and the Permaisuri of Johor use the Malay style ''Duli Yang Maha Mulia'' (DYMM) which is equivalent to His/Her Majesty since 2017. Prior to that, they were addressed as ''His/Her Royal Highness'' in English, similar with the other eight royal state Malay rulers in Malaysia.

References

External links

* {{Royal styles Majesty